Byron Health Center continuously works to fundamentally change long-term care. Our organizational culture emphasizes serving leadership and purpose for all residents and team members. We are at the forefront of healthcare innovation and person-centered quality care.
Who We Are
Byron Health Center is a unique type of community. Over 30% of our residents have lived here for over 10 years and nine of those residents have called Byron home for over 20 years. Byron is their home and we are their family. Our caregivers provide exceptional medical care in an organization built on the values of inclusion, acceptance, compassion and encouragement. At Byron, we all lead purpose-filled lives. THIS IS WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE. Our residents are our family and we are theirs. Our facility is their home. As caregivers, we strive to help each family member thrive along their individual journey, whatever that may be.
Byron Health Center is a non-profit, independent community that provides long term health care, skilled nursing rehabilitation and memory care along with physical and occupational therapy and cognitive interventions. For those who are more physically independent, we offer Licensed Assisted Living at Miller’s Place.
Both Byron Health Center and Miller’s Place concentrate on serving those who are most vulnerable. We pride ourselves on meeting the needs of individuals who have complex medical conditions most often coupled with psychiatric or developmental disorders.
These common psychiatric and developmental disorders include, but are not limited to:
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
• Mental Illness (MI)
• Intellectual Developmental Disability (IDD)
• Huntington's Disease (HD)
• Dementia
These conditions can result in challenging behaviors, or moments as we refer to them, and lead to complex interventions. Sexually inappropriate behaviors require highly trained and skilled caregivers. Some of our family members may not have been successful in other communities, but our goal is to serve the individual and meet their unique needs. We continuously work to fundamentally change long term healthcare through an organization-wide emphasis on creating and maintaining a culture of compassion, love, care, and inclusion.
We are the first facility in the area with separate memory care neighborhoods for men and women. Individuals with dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, may reside in our secured memory care neighborhoods for increased structure and safety. Other residents, who require even more structure and safety, also reside in our secured neighborhoods. Although these family members reside in a secured neighborhood, they still participate in home functions and attend outings in the community accompanied by our highly-trained staff.
Boasting a team of compassionate caregivers with hundreds of years of combined care experience, our community specializes in behavior modification and innovative pilot programs including Cognitive Pathway Strategies, Horticulture Therapy, Music Therapy, Art Therapy, Aromatherapy and Multi-Sensory Immersion.
Mission and Values
Mission
Byron Health Center provides an inclusive multi-generational community fostering purpose-filled lives by focusing on the individualized strengths of our family members.
Vision
Byron Health Center will fundamentally change long-term-care through compassion and innovation.
Foundational Belief
We join each resident on their journey as guests in their home, advocating on their behalf.
Assisted Living at Miller’s Place
Miller’s Place is a unique community that provides co-ed, dorm-style, assisted living on the Byron Health Center campus. While our family members need the extra attention that Assisted Living provides to keep them healthy and safe, our caregivers concentrate on having fun, learning and experiencing the many things' life has to offer.
Residents have private rooms and share community restrooms and showers. Meals are provided at Shirley’s Café in the main Byron Health Center building where our residents are able to take advantage of the Always-Available menu options.
A caregiver is always on site and a Life Enrichment Specialist is available to initiate activities and special events. Each family member has an individualized service plan which list goals and objectives to maintain and improve activities of daily living (ADL). The service plans are created by a team of professionals and caregivers in collaboration with the resident and their family. We also allow smoking on-campus in selected outdoor areas. Those that wish to smoke are first assessed on ability to smoke independently.
Miller’s Place residents are free to participate in any of the events on the Byron Health Center activities calendar. Family members also participate in the many outings and activities, including sporting events, trips to area campgrounds and parks or various volunteer undertakings.
Payer source options at Miller’s Place include private pay and assistance through FSSA's Residential Care Assistance Program (RCAP).
Memory Care
Individuals with dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, may reside on our secured memory care neighborhoods for increased structure and safety.
Other residents who would benefit from a secured neighborhood stay may exhibit sexually-inappropriate behavior, wandering or lack of safety awareness, to name a few. Although these family members reside in a secured neighborhood, they still participate in whole home functions and attend outings in the community accompanied by our highly-trained staff.
Our memory care neighborhoods specialize in behavior modification and intervention pilot programs including Cognitive Re-direction Strategies, Horticulture Therapy, Music Therapy, Aroma Therapy and Art Therapy.
We are the first facility in the area with separate memory care neighborhoods for men and women. The neighborhoods of Mauch Drive and Floridis Avenue are home to around 25 ladies while the neighborhoods of Hart Cove and Katsanis Court are home to around 25 fellows. Even though we understand that our residents need the extra attention that Memory Care provides to keep them healthy and safe, we like to concentrate more on having fun, learning and experiencing as much as life has to offer. The family-like atmosphere where we enable purpose-filled lives of all is sewn throughout the fabric of our Memory Care neighborhoods as we meet each individual along their journey.
To ensure that our residents with memory issues are given the best possible care, we work to have dedicated team members on the memory care areas on each shift. This is vital to ensuring that changes in a resident’s care needs or cognitive abilities is met. With consistent staff, family members form relationships that are built around trust which helps in making routine, as well as tough, care decisions.
Another important aspect of our women’s memory care neighborhood is our multi-sensory, or Snoezelen, environment, named the Ellowsky Oasis. In this relaxing space, residents can experience an environment that reduces agitation and anxiety, but also engage and delight, stimulate reactions and encourage communication for our residents.
We made sure to have black-out curtains, so the room could be completely dark if necessary. Our room has varied lighting, a drawing station and a rocking chair. The residents are also able to watch waterfalls, a flickering fire or waves crashing, while laying on a huge adult-sized bean bag. It was also particularly important that our room did not feel child-like, as many of these rooms can become when primary colors are used over and over.
Many of our residents utilize the room to reduce stimulation that can cause the agitation. Not any different from the rest of the general population, our residents like to go to a place alone that is quiet and soothing to calm down. In our new community, each memory care area will have its own multi-sensory room, appropriate for the residents who live in that neighborhood.
Respite Care
Byron Health Center offers Respite Care on both our Long Term Care and Secured Memory Care neighborhoods.
We provide planned or emergency temporary care for you or your loved one. Our Respite Care program provides short-term breaks for families in order to support and maintain the primary caregiving relationship. Even though the caregiver may take great joy in assisting the loved one so that they can remain at home, the physical, emotional, and financial toll on the caregiver can be overwhelming without support. Respite is described as a short period of rest or release from something difficult.
Respite Care has been shown to help sustain the caregiver’s health and well-being, avoid or delay out-of-home placements and reduce the likelihood of abuse and neglect. Respite Care is also an ideal solution for the caregiver that needs to travel for vacation and no other caregiver is available.
Caregivers often return from a break with a renewed energy and outlook. A Respite Stay can be beneficial to your loved one as well.
When they are getting the care they need, while giving you a break, the result can be a more enjoyable time together.
A Respite Stay can also allow your loved one to adjust to someone else caring for them.
Here at Byron Health Center, we offer Respite Stays to assist you and your loved one when a break is needed. We provide skilled nursing care, meals, activities, programming and the daily assistance your loved one may need. If your loved one is living with one of the many forms of dementia and needs to stay in a memory-care neighborhood, we offer both male and female secured neighborhoods to keep them safe. We also offer a full range of engaging activities throughout the day that will allow your loved one to have fun while being socially active.
Additionally, what many do not realize is that some insurances cover respite services.
